Tangled
by Byousoku Isshun
Summary: As years pass, memories accumulate of introductions, losses, love, hate, happiness, and of sadness. Lily Potter's meeting with Scorpius Malfoy was fate as they learn to bring out the best in each and end up relying on the other more than either realizes.


**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ITS CHARACTERS. **

-_Lily Potter: First Autumn_-

James, Albus, and Lily Potter were fighting a lost battle against sleep. The three Potter children had made a pact between themselves to not fall asleep and wait to greet their mother when she got home from wherever she was. To them, it wasn't fair that their father stayed up for so many nights waiting for his wife to come home alone. Harry Potter didn't deserve this, they decided. The grandfather clock in the living room chimed for the fifth time after they were supposed to go to sleep. 2:00 AM it read on Al's watch.

The oldest son, James Sirius Potter, sighed deeply. His hand continued to graze his younger sister's fiery copper hair. Lily laid on his lap staring endlessly at the ceiling of Al's room. Al kept staring out of his window, which had the best view of the porch. The light on the porch magically turned on, and their mother, Ginny Weasley Potter, appeared on its doorstep. Even through the darkness of the night, Al could see she was slightly intoxicated.

He motioned to his siblings and they quietly crept to the stairway.

"Morning, Gin. Where've you been?" They heard Harry Potter say with a hint of anger only his children knew of.

"Here and there and the like," She responded. Harry sent a glare at her in response as if the answer wasn't satisfying. "Well, being a celebrity is hard work! You should know better than anyone, remember after the final fight?" Ginny added.

Harry laughed with disgust. "I would know, huh?" He replied, his voice getting louder. "I _always_ made time for my family! For you! But you're just tossing the kids and I off to the side as if we're not even important!"

"You're being overdramatic, Harry. I love the kids just as much as you do." Ginny said coolly.

"That's a lie! You hardly ever spend time with any of the kids! I doubt you even know what they like or dislike!" The three children wanted to run down to their father and hug him, but he didn't even know that they were awake.

They could almost see Ginny shaking her head. "Forget it, Harry. I think you should just go back to sleep. Look, I'll even take care of breakfast." She said heading to the kitchen.

"As if that's going to make it better, Ginny! You're not even acting like a mother, like _my wife_." He whispered softly. James, Albus, and Lily hugged each other tightly at the top of the stairs, listening to their parents. Al could feel Lily's tears drop to his shirt, until James picked Lily into his arms and swept her away back to her room.

Al followed behind them and opened the door for his brother. The two boys frowned at the decorations on Lily's walls. There were multiple posters of their mother's team, the Holyhead Harpies. In most of them, a redheaded woman zoomed passed or posed in front of the camera. "I hate Mum." Lily whispered so that only her brothers could hear. They both nodded in agreement and were slightly shocked at Lily's request.

James set his sister carefully on the floor and the three Potter siblings began to rip every single poster of the wall and crunched them into the rubbish bin.

After the argument, Harry Potter walked upstairs to check on his three children. He didn't believe they deserved a mother like this. As he walked passed an empty James's room, he could hear paper being ripped into pieces from Lily's room. He ran inside worriedly and saw James, Albus, and Lily ripping the Holyhead Harpies posters that Ginny had gotten for their daughter. Even when they saw their father, they didn't stop. They continued to shred their mother's face into little fragments.

"Come here you three." Harry said quietly, opening his arms. The three siblings hugged their father tightly, never wanting to let go. "Thank you, James, Lily, Al. I love you so much, all three of you. I won't ever let you go. When we go on the platform, I want you three to forget about home and have a good time at school."

Those words rung in Lily's ears as she ran into the wall and onto Platform 9 ¾. Their mother followed behind her, along with the rest of her family. "Go on, you three." Harry said to his three children. "Have fun, Lily. Enjoy your time there." He personally said to his youngest daughter.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Lily, come ride with us," her older brother, Albus, offered. His friends outside the door of an empty compartment surrounded the Harry Potter look alike. The younger girl wasn't intimidated by the fact all of her brother's friends were third years like him, but she wanted to find her own friends. Albus could see the rejection in her hazel eyes. "Just kidding." He said cheerfully, patting her bronze hair gently. "Go find your own friends, Lil." Her brother retreated behind the sliding door, leaving Lily alone in the hallway.

The youngest Potter was surprised at how many people knew her name. When she passed by James's compartment, he offered to make room and was shocked to see her decline. "Lil you know that you're always welcomed with my friends!" he told her. Lily smiled her bright smile and continued to refuse his offer.

She continued her trek through the long train compartments to find an empty one. Every time she looked through the small window, it always seemed to be crowded. "I'm the only one still looking," She mumbled to herself. The moment she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings she bumped into a tall third-year. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She apologized.

"What's this? A little Potter throwing her weight around?" Said the third-year that she bumped into. He was the tallest in his group and had long black hair that reached his shoulders. The two other boys beside him also had bulky, towering builds. "I don't think you know your place, _Potter_." He spat at her.

Lily made a motion to step back, but saw that they had already surrounded her, wands pulled out. Her small hand dug into her robes and clutched her new wand tightly. "_Avis oppugno_!" She shouted whipping out her wand in the correct fashion demonstrated by the books she read. A swarm of canaries were sent flying from the tip of her wand towards the group of Slytherins. Lily began to run as fast as she could away from the scene and dove into one of the last compartments on the train.

She hadn't noticed that there was another boy still dressed in his muggle clothes sitting across from where she hid. His metallic eyes stared into her hazel ones, before turning towards the door where her captures were.

"Scorpius! Have you seen a little firstie come here? It's a Potter."

The boy shook his head. Lily noticed an almost invisible glance her way before he replied, "No, I haven't, Nott. Why? What did the little firstie do to you three?" Scorpius said with a smirk. Nott glared at the blonde boy with furious eyes.

"I bet it was her rotten brothers that performed that spell! There's no way a first-year could have performed an '_avis oppugno_' spell. I swear her brother's must have been hiding!" Nott shouted loudly. Scorpius looked at him nonchalantly.

"Well then go look for the Potters. I'm staying here." The three other third-years turned away with a look of disdained and slammed the door behind them. "Idiots." Said the remaining Slytherin. The blonde motioned for Lily to come out from under her seat and sit across from him. "_Avis oppugno_ is a six-year level magic. That's pretty impressive, Potter."

Lily had expected him to hex her or shout at her, but instead he complimented her. She giggled slightly, "Thank you! I should go now; I don't want to disturb you, Malfoy." When she got up, a strong grip kept her down.

"Why do you smile at me? I'm a _Malfoy_, _Potter_." He said, emphasizing their different last names. Lily frowned slightly but then a bright smile erupted on her freckled face.

"My name is Lily Potter. Can I please accompany you, Mr. _Malfoy_?" She asked, emphasizing his last name like how he did hers. He wondered if she was just oblivious to their families' history or did she just not care. Either way, this girl was surprising her more and more.

"Anybody that curses that numbskull Nott is alright in my book. Scorpius Malfoy, pleased to meet you." He said, shaking her small hand.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Once the train halted to a stop, both Malfoy and Potter were dressed in their school robes as they exited the compartment while talking. However, they were forced to split as the third years rode on the carriages to the castle while first years took the boats.

"Make sure the giant squid doesn't get you," Scorpius teased the smaller girl as he jokingly attempted to push her toward the black lake. He was met with a pout before she was led away by Hagrid, the gamekeeper, and put into one of the boats. Once he rejoined his friends at a carriage, he immediately felt the happy moment he had shared with the youngest Potter fade into darkness.

The next time Lily even spotted the blonde Slytherin it was when she hopped from the stool after a very quick sorting towards the Gryffindor table. Even though they were on different houses, she could still catch a glimpse of _something_ in his eyes as his gray eyes followed her down the steps.


End file.
